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Thomas McBride

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Thomas McBride
November 15, 2003

Thomas F. McBride, 74, an associate prosecutor in the Watergate investigation and former inspector general of the Agriculture and Labor departments, died of a cerebral hemorrhage October 31, 2003, while walking his dog in a park near his home in Portland, Oregon.

This is his obiturary from the Washington Post:

  • Thomas McBride, 74, Dies in Oregon; Assisted With Watergate Prosecution

    By Patricia Sullivan
    Washington Post Staff Writer
    Wednesday, November 5, 2003; Page B-08

    Thomas F. McBride, 74, an associate prosecutor in the Watergate investigation and former inspector general of the Agriculture and Labor departments, died of a cerebral hemorrhage Oct. 31 while walking his dog in a park near his home in Portland, Ore.

    Mr. McBride died the day before he was to attend a 30th anniversary commemoration in Washington of the so-called Saturday night massacre, in which President Richard M. Nixon ordered the firing of Archibald Cox, the Watergate special prosecutor.

    On Oct. 20, 1973, Mr. McBride heard the news bulletin and, within 10 minutes, was at the special prosecutor's offices to ensure that important files were removed immediately for safety and preservation. According to a Washington Post article at the time, at least six FBI agents arrived at the offices at 1425 K St. NW and sealed the top two floors, on order of the White House. They sealed Cox's office and the offices of then-Attorney General Elliot L. Richardson and his chief deputy, William D. Ruckelshaus.

    Mr. McBride's job as associate special prosecutor was to lead the task force on campaign contributions and the sale of ambassadorships. He accepted guilty pleas from Maurice Stans on five campaign finance law violations. Several months after Nixon resigned, Mr. McBride deposed him before a secret federal grand jury in California.

    Mr. McBride was born in Elgin, Ill., and served two years in the Army. He graduated from New York University and worked his way through Columbia Law School as a crew member on merchant marine freighters during school breaks. He started his legal career as a prosecutor in the Manhattan district attorney's office.

    In 1961, he moved to Washington to become a trial lawyer for Attorney General Robert Kennedy's Organized Crime Task Force. After President John F. Kennedy's assassination, he joined the Peace Corps, eventually becoming its deputy director for Latin America.

    He was the first inspector general of the Department of Agriculture. When President Ronald Reagan took office, vowing to get tough on government waste, he fired all 16 inspectors general. But he rehired the six he considered the toughest, including Mr. McBride, who took the post at the Department of Labor. Mr. McBride also was staff director of the Police Foundation and director of enforcement for the Civil Aeronautics Board during his years in Washington.

    In 1982, he left the government to become associate dean at Stanford Law School and to teach in Stanford's human biology department. He was later Stanford University's director of environment, health and safety.

    Mr. McBride moved back to Washington in 1992 and worked at the Department of Energy, working on the cleanup and closing of nuclear weapons sites. In 1997, he became special assistant to the president of Save the Children and was given the task of improving systems related to child sponsorships worldwide. A year ago, Mr. McBride moved to Portland, where he was preparing to teach a course on constitutional law and current events at Portland State University.

    His first marriage, to Margaret Olney McBride, ended in divorce.

    He is survived by his wife of 28 years, Catherine Milton; two children from his first marriage, Elizabeth Joyce of Nedrow, N.Y., and John McBride of Gaithersburg; and two children from his second marriage, Raphael McBride of San Francisco and Luke McBride of Lenox, Mass.

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